Palm Reader, Love is Noise & Blight Town – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – 7/07/2024

Tonight is the culmination of 13 years hard work. Palm Reader made Nottingham their home back in 2015, and now Rescue Rooms hosts the final night of their farewell tour (bar a one last hurrah at 2000 Trees festival next week)

But first up are local lads Blight Town. Kicking straight into Al Gore Rhythm, guitarist Sam Hough takes the helm, screaming down the mic, before lead vocalist Jake Hough takes over. As the music plays, the room fills up. Everyone outside enjoying a pint in the sun too intrigued to not head inside. Blight Town blend multiple genres to create their own sound, a math riff here, a poppy chorus there, and a post hardcore beat bringing it all together. During the set, Hough (the latter) explains that the band has been pretty quiet for the past few months, but new music should be expected soon, citing ‘we’re perfectionists!’ as the reason. 1408, their most recently released track, shows just what we’re in store for, while set closer Hawaii Six-O ends the set on a poppier note. All in all a great opener for the night.

Second support comes from Love is Noise, who have joined Palm Reader on all of the farewell dates. The four piece instantly make the stage their own. Clear of all floor monitors and mic stands, vocalist Cameron Humphrey throws himself around the space, while the guitarist and bassist bracket him, making use of their own room to headbang, kick and twist their way through songs like Memento, In the Shadow of Your Former Self and newly released single Soft Glow. Love is Noise are a relatively new band, but the charisma on stage is palpable. They get the crowd to participate in slow number Azure by raising phone torches, before kicking it up a notch to play the heaviest song of the set Jawbreaker. With their debut album ready to drop soon, Love is Noise are definitely own to look out for.

Finally, that leads us to the reason we are all here tonight. With a packed setlist voted for by the fans, Palm Reader take to the stage. Kicking off with Internal Winter and oldie I Watch the Fire Chase My Tongue, it’s not until Hold / Release when the switch flips from an amazing live performance to an undeniable ‘you had to be there’ experience. (or maybe I’m just biased, having shot my three songs this is the point I quickly stowed away the camera and rushed to be a part of the crowd) Playing a mix of songs across their whole discography, Palm Reader nail every single second.

It’s hard to be unbiased when you’re pressed against the barrier, screaming the lyrics and even shedding a few tears along the way, but ask anyone in attendance and I’m sure they would agree. This is the best Palm Reader have ever performed. The mixture of feelings – from happiness of everyone being in the moment and ‘getting’ it, to the sadness of it being the final headline show, the penultimate show ever – brew and blend to make each moment an emotional roller-coaster. Vocalist Josh Mckeown telling the crowd ‘I really appreciate everyone singing along, but it ain’t half difficult to sing when I’m trying not to fucking cry’. Same Josh, same.

The set, as you can imagine, is littered with the very best Palm Reader has to offer (except Noble Host…I will never stop being salty that it didn’t make the cut) Immense singles like Inertia, False Thirst and Stacks sit side by side with deeper album cuts like Seeing & Believing are Two Different Things and Both Ends of the Rope. Culminating in an insane encore of Swarm and A Bird and Its Feathers.

As the last chord rings out, and people make their way to the doors, the bittersweet feeling is back. This band have done everything right – continuously growing on each album, producing some of the best songs the UK scene has to offer, but never being given their much deserved flowers. I hope that tonight, this whole tour in fact, has shown the boys in Palm Reader that even though they never quite managed to break out and become as big as they should have, there are fans from all over the world that love, appreciate and connect with all that this band stands for. Thank you.

Words and Photos by Carrie-Anne Pollard